Ethiopian hotel owners ready to host delegates for 36th AU Summit

By Jerry Omondi & E K Benj Ethiopian hotel owners say all preparations have been made to ensure guests who will be in the country this week for the African Union Summit have a comfortable stay. The Hotel Owners Association (HOA) has expressed confidence the industry was all set for the 36th Ordinary Session of…

Humanitarian partners seek $2.6 billion to assist 7.6 million people in Somalia in 2023

The United Nations and humanitarian partners in Somalia together with federal and state governments on Wednesday released the 2023 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) for Somalia, which seeks 2.6 billion U.S. dollars to assist about 7.6 million people. An estimated 8.25 million people, nearly half of the population, need immediate lifesaving humanitarian and protection assistance. Amid…

Libya’s political actors agree on full withdrawal of mercenaries and foreign fighters

Libya’s 5+5 Joint Military Commission (JMC) and liaison committees from Libya, Sudan and Niger approved the establishment of an integrated mechanism for joint coordination and data exchange to facilitate the full withdrawal of mercenaries and foreign fighters from the country. The agreement was announced on Wednesday by the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL),…

African leaders commiserate with Turkey, Syria following deadly earthquakes

By Jerry Omondi & E K Benj African leaders have sent messages of commiseration to Türkiye and Syria following deadly earthquakes on Monday. A magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck Türkiye’s southern province of Kahramanmaras at 4:17 a.m. local time (0117 GMT), followed by several aftershocks. A second major quake with a magnitude of 7.6 struck the same area again…

South African police launch manhunt after poachers kill two rhinos

South African police have launched a manhunt for poachers who shot two rhinos dead and dehorned them on Wednesday evening. The poachers sneaked into a safari farm in the Paterson area in the Eastern Cape where the animals were harbored. “It is alleged that the two adult rhinos (male and female) were last spotted during…

UN: Fake medicines kill almost 440,000 sub-Saharan Africans a year

In sub-Saharan Africa, as many as 267,000 deaths per year are linked to falsified and substandard antimalarial medicines, a United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report found. In addition, up to 169,271 are linked to falsified and substandard antibiotics used to treat severe pneumonia in children. Trafficking these products is also taking a direct economic toll…

10 people killed in two attacks in Burkina Faso

At least 10 civilians were killed in two attacks by suspected jihadists in the Burkina Faso town of Dassa, according to AFP citing security and local sources on Friday. Late on Thursday, two groups of armed men attacked two areas in Dassa, a commune in west-central Burkina Faso around 140 kilometers (90 miles) west of…